A Comparison of the Effect of Aquatic and Land-based Exercise Rehabilitation on Lipid Profile and Cardiovascular Indicators in Overweight Sedentary Elderly Women

The decrease in performance during weight-bearing exercise is observed in older adults. It is also important to guarantee the health of women considering their social roles. However, prescribing physical activity in older women requires special consideration. One of the best ways is to use aquatic exercises. The aim of the present study was to compare the two types of aquatic and land-based exercise rehabilitation on some cardiovascular and lipid profile parameters in sedentary elderly women. Thirty-six elderly women were randomly and equally divided into 3 groups including aquatic training, land-based exercise, and control groups. Twelve weeks of aquatic and land-based exercise rehabilitation (treadmill walking) (3 sessions, 60 minutes each session) were performed in the range of 70-80% of peak heart rate. Aerobic power, anthropometric parameters, cardiovascular parameters (blood pressure and heart rate), and lipid profiles were assessed before and after interventions. Independent t-test and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) were used to analyze the data. Post-test values ​​showed a significant improvement for all variables in the water and land-based training groups (P≤0. 05). Changes in all measured variables were significantly different among the studied groups compared to the control group (P=0.001). However, there was no difference between the aquatic and land-based training method. The same efficacy of both types of exercise showed that aquatic training can replace on land-based training. This issue is more important due to the weight-bearing, especially in older women.